Children of The Night
by Polydicta
Summary: Harry seeks revenge after Hermione is killed, but finds that they have both undergone a life-changing event. Violence, blood, character death, angst, normal marital relations, necromantic themes. Overpowered wizards! ON HIATUS after chapter 6.
1. Chapter 1: The Fall of The Dark Lord

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book of Death**

_**Chapter 1: The Fall of The Dark Lord**_

by Polydicta

**Summary:**

Harry seeks revenge after Hermione is killed, but finds that they have both undergone a life-changing event. Violence, blood, character death, normal marital relations, necromantic themes. ON HIATUS.

This story is on PERMANENT HIATUS - that is, until I feel inspired to add anything more to it. I know where I want it to go but lack the inspiration or the drive to get there. I'm hoping that the guilt of leaving everyone hanging will motivate me … or something.

**Disclaimer: **

All fiction is derivative and fan fiction doubly so. I make no claim to own any part of any of the following, all I have done is an attempt to put together the elements in a novel fashion, using words and ideas like Lego ™ bricks.

There is no money involved – all I do is to share what I do for my own amusement.

-::::::::-

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book Of Death**

_**Chapter 1: The fall of The Dark Lord**_

.

**1. The Department of Mysteries.**

It was dark in the Hall of Prophesies, but Harry saw the Death Eater make a slashing motion with his wand, releasing a gout of purple flame that hit Hermione.

She fell, and Harry's mind froze …

Neville said, "there's a pulse," and Harry's mind unfroze. He was once more able to fight.

His friends didn't notice him using more powerful hexes, all of a sudden. Dolohov wouldn't be harming anyone again in a hurry, not with a broken neck, anyway.

"Hermione, come back to me, please. Come back…"

Picking up the two dropped wands, he lifted his friend, carrying her to the exit, and into the rotating chamber. The students ducked into one of the rooms they hadn't tried yet. There was some kind of a portal there, a squat gateway of some glistening, grey material, not metal and yet not quite stone. A tunnel about two meters through by about the same high and wide surrounded by a massive … grey … frame.

They looked, there didn't seem to be anything in the aperture, they went around the back, avoiding passing through, hoping to hide behind the thick uprights of the pylon. It was covered in low-relief carvings, hieroglyphs and esoteric symbols that seemed to hint at impressions of memories of meanings just out of reach.

They were out of sight. Lucius Malfoy entered just as Hermione let out a gasp of pain.

Malfoy smiled thinly and moved to the right, sufficient to see Hermione's dangling feet.

"_Accio_ Potter's prophecy!"

Harry felt himself dragged by the glass globe, trapped inside his robe between Hermione's body and his own. As he was catapulted through the gateway, the globe ripped free and smashed against Malfoy's face.

Harry felt as though he was floating, the journey through the gateway seemed to take forever. He thought he had lost consciousness.

.

_There was darkness around him, the blue velvet darkness of a desert night sky. He was stood on a dark surface. Suddenly he was surrounded by a blue-white light. There was a flash of pain in his scar that was gone even as he felt it._

_"Your friend is dying. What would you have us do?"_

_"Can you heal her? It is my fault that she has been hurt. I don't want her to die. I couldn't live if she died."_

_"And what will you give for her life?"_

_There was no hesitation. "Anything."_

_"Even your own life?"_

_"Yes, even that."_

_He felt Hermione taken from him. He could see her some way off, stood in her own pool of light._

_Then she was beside him again._

_"The prophesy you were given is a poor reflection of your first task. You have changed and the world about you also. _

_"Your ultimate destiny is unchanged, though you can neither complete it alone. Together you may yet triumph. Regardless, your destiny will consume your lives. _

_"We gift you the power that you shall require, but be warned that donning the mantle of power will change you both in ways you may find … distasteful. Once accepted, either way, your payment will be made."_

_There was a flash of light that seemed to turn dark into dazzle._

_"Go! Hunt well and tread always the path that your heart tells you is right. Ammnn-RA!"_

They landed in front of the still blinded Malfoy.

Harry kneed him in the groin. When he fell, a booted foot caught him behind the ear and they heard a stomach-turning crunch. Harry stooped and took the death eater's wand.

"Harry, are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're okay, guys. Malfoy's dead, or at least, seriously brain-damaged."

The others emerged.

"Hermione, you're okay!"

"Um, something happened going through the gateway, but … "

"… we're not really sure what."

Neville said, "They're fine if they're still completing each other's sentences."

.

They tried the next door and found themselves in yet another chamber, this containing a vast and ancient stone arch stood on a naked rock. The scene seemed to be illuminated by an otherworldly glow. There was a veil of pale light rippling across the opening and they could all hear the distant whispering of voices.

"Ooooh, guys! This is … they want me to go to them …"

"It's alright Ron. It's nothing, just something a bit weird."

"If you say so … I feel … they're coming …"

There were a series of thunderclaps as the remaining Death Eaters apparated into the chamber.

Ron, Luna, Neville and Ginny were captured before anyone could react. Bellatrix Lestrange was cackling and crowing.

Suddenly, "where's Lucius?"

Harry said, "dead. Same as your friend Dolohov."

"You filthy half-blood scum!"

She launched a curse at Harry, who simply dodged the glowing magic.

"Where's the prophesy?"

"Gone. It was destroyed. Want to hear it?"

"Yes! Give it us or watch your friends die."

"Fine. Here you go then."

"Don't give it to them, Harry!"

"No, it doesn't matter. Your lives are more important than the inane ramblings of some half-mad seer. They've worked hard to get it, they've won. They may as well know…"

Harry cleared his throat.

"Har … no!"

"Hermione, yes…

Harry's voice became dreamy as he tried to recall the prophecy.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches … born to those that have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the dark lord will mark him as his master… and the dark lord must die at the hand of the other for the one may not yet live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies …"_

There were a series of pops and crashes as further apparators arrived. Harry and Hermione recognised members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Harry's friends were suddenly free of their captors. Bellatrix was immediately on the rock with her wand under Harry's chin.

"I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to play with your mudblood friend here …"

"Get away from my God-son!"

Sirius landed a punch on the woman's jaw.

"Sirius!"

"You've done wonderfully, now let us take it from …"

Hermione blocked a stunner from Bellatrix, interrupting Sirius' speech.

Two more Death Eaters joined her and a fire-fight ensued, Harry and Hermione fighting alongside Sirius. Two of the Death Eaters were down as Bellatrix started to cast the killing curse.

"_Avadr _…"

Harry stamped forward with his left foot, pointing his wand. "_Ptah_!"

Rings of pale light leapt from his wand.

"…_a Kavadra_!"

Bellatrix's curse impacted one wall of the chamber as she impacted the other with a sound like a massive insect being crushed. The way she landed said that she hadn't survived.

"Nice one, Harry! What _was_ it?"

"Egyptian banishing hex."

Together they left the chamber, the Death Eaters being bound and levitated. Unnoticed, Harry had _accio_'d Bellatrix's wand. He also surreptitiously annexed the other Death-Eater's wands. For some reason, he felt they might be useful.

There were the sounds of retreating footsteps running from the chamber.

.

**1.2 The Dark Lord **

Once in the Ministry Atrium, they were confronted by a slit-nosed, black robed figure.

"You were foolish to come here, Harry Potter. You should learn the difference between what is real and what are dreams. You are weak, and you will die."

"Not as weak as you, Tom Riddle."

The phoenix wand flicked as Voldemort cast "_crucio_!"

"_Pa_!" Harry's left hand was held in a gesture of denial.

The curse crackled on the surface of his shield. The Dark Lord's eyes widened and then became slit-like.

"You have learned. We will duel."

There was a flare of green from one of the fire-places, and Dumbledore stepped into the chamber.

"It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom."

With a gesture, the Headmaster banished the people in the atrium to the relative safety of the edges of the chamber and duelled with the Dark Lord.

Eventually, Voldemort knew that he was outclassed and disappeared. Harry was suddenly wracked with pain as Voldemort began an assault on his mind.

"Harry …?"

Dumbledore was kneeling, looking into the red eyes of the boy.

"You will lose, old man…"

Somehow Harry managed to wrench his thoughts back to his life, his friends … friends … family … the gentle words and looks …

Then he saw Hermione, looking on, eyes huge and with tears in her eyes. Hermione mouthed the word _Harry_?

Harry Potter remembered the looks and the hugs and the closeness with Hermione, his best friend in all the world, and more than a friend. Harry embraced what he had become, and his feelings for those around him. Harry Potter, the weak, abused child was consigned to the past. Harry Potter the well-loved young man took his place.

There was an unearthly scream, and a black cloud burst from Harry's body, coalescing into Voldemort's form.

Dumbledore immediately started casting hexes at Voldemort who defended himself, the dazed teen forgotten behind him.

.

Green flames flared as people started arriving in the atrium.

Fudge simply said, "_he_'s back …"

"_Avada kavadra_!"

Green flared from behind Voldemort and the Dark Lord collapsed, the sick, green light of the curse dancing over him like foxfire. Harry was stood behind, with his wand pointing at where Voldemort had stood, the green light flickering along his scar.

At Harry's feet, the dark lord slowly changed, turning into a pool of snake-venom with a few streaks of teen blood, a severed hand and a few dry and decaying bones.

"No, Minister, he's finally gone forever."

.

The fact that one of the captured death eaters turned out to be Peter Pettigrew meant that, suddenly, Sirius was a free man, bailed from custody until the Department for Magical Law Enforcement could complete their investigation. A series of pensieve and veritas serum testimonies ensured his release.

Back at Hogwarts, the _Ministry Six_ were being checked over by Madam Pomfrey.

"There is something strange about this, Mr Potter. My readings don't tally with anything on your records … Nor do Miss Granger's …"

"We did have some rather strange experiences while we were in the Ministry. It would be fair to say that we've all changed, learned. We've all grown up a bit, I guess."

"Poppy, if I may?"

Dumbledore brought out what he referred to as his _soul analyser_. The puffs of magical smoke were white, or almost so.

"Well, Harry, it would seem that the darkness that was infecting your soul has gone. It would seem that Lord Voldemort has, indeed, gone forever."

.

Harry turned to Hermione. "Hermione, now that Tom's finally gone … well, I've liked you for ages and ages, I mean, not as a friend but … umm, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd really, really like you to be my girlfriend and, umm … maybe even more?"

The girl who had believed that Harry would never want to see her as more than a friend was speechless.

Harry was about to apologise for being a prat when he was engulfed in a seriously bone-crushing hug. He captured her lips with his own. Oblivious to the world, they never heard Madam Pomfrey or Dumbledore leaving.

.

**1.3 Thereafter**

Ron, after being attacked by the psychovores, decided to not return the following autumn. In an attempt to purge his mind of the after-effects of the attack, he started drawing and then painting his nightmarish dreams. He discovered in himself a talent for painting these strange and alien scenes, and was soon in demand as an artist in both the muggle and magical worlds.

The following two years were blissful for Harry and Hermione. Without Voldemort or Ron's distractions, Harry had found himself enjoying his studies. By the time that NEWTs came around, Harry had caught up with Hermione in everything, including arithmancy and ancient runes.

Their sixth year was served as prefects and their seventh as head boy and girl. Harry, of course, continued as quiddich captain for those two years.

In the August after they graduated from school, the pair were married in a wonderful ceremony on the lawns of Hogwarts. Later that day, in a very private ceremony at an ancient, sacred well, far inside the forest, they underwent the oldest form of marriage rites in the world.

Harry was accepted onto the auror training program at the same time that Hermione became a researcher in the Department of Mysteries.

Harry, having learned the art of studying and with his experiences, completed the three year training inside eighteen months, and progressed immediately to the advanced course. Three years after leaving school, Harry was finally on the job he always wanted, and he was rapidly acknowledged as one of the best aurors on the force for many years.

At the same time, Hermione had progressed to the point where she was heading up the special projects division and was, in all but name, an Unspeakable.

Their home, Grimmauld Place had been renovated by them, Sirius, Harry, Hermione, Remus and Tonks had redecorated, renovated and, in the case of certain features, removed. Kreacher had died, at last, doing what he enjoyed best – complaining.

Kreacher was replaced by Dobby and Winky. The two elves had come to accept their freedom, but needed to be with a family. Harry surprised his wife by allowing the elves to bind themselves, but he changed the form.

"I accept the binding of the two elves, Dobby and Winky, to House Potter as members of the family. Welcome Dobby Potter and Winky Potter."

The two creatures were overjoyed, but unexpected changes came over them during the next several months.

.

"Potter!"

"Yeah, Shack?"

"Bones wants to see you. Drop everything."

Harry blinked and put his paperwork down. "Okay, Shack, any guesses?"

The dark-skinned chief auror grinned and shook his head. "Promotion or a reaming, I'd guess."

.

"Madam Bones? Hermione!"

"Come in, Mr Potter. Mrs Potter and Mr Croaker need to discuss something with you. Now, before I let them have you, I will tell you that your record has been exemplary, and I will support your decision in this, whatever you decide. Now, since I don't have clearance for this, I will leave and I'll see you shortly."

The monocled head of Magical Law Enforcement left.

"What…?"

Hermione smiled. "Mr Coaker is here to make an offer, Harry. We need your particular skills."

.

Half an hour later, the three of them left the office.

"Suzy, could you thank Amelia for us. Harry needs to see her after he clears his desk."

.

"Shack?"

The auror looked up.

"It was a promotion and a transfer. I'm not allowed to discuss it, but it is effective from lunch time, so I'm here to clear my desk."

"That urgent? Well, congratulations, Harry. We'll miss you, but it _is_ starting to get slow here. Don't forget to look in whenever you're in the area."

"I will do. I'll need to liaise anyway. I _can_ tell you that I'm going to be based in the building."

"Damn, ninth floor and below?"

Harry just looked him in the eye.

"Fair enough. They have their own canteen down there." He grinned.

.

"Hi all!"

"Good evening Harry, Hermione. Good day at work?"

"Hi Dobby. Not bad. Harry's had a promotion. He's working with me now."

Winky appeared with a gentle pop.

"Congratulations, Harry."

"Hi Winky, how you feeling?"

Winky grinned. "Brilliant thanks."

"And the little one?"

The elf put her hand to her round belly. "Kicking. I think he's going to be a footballer."

.

The following months were filled with training for Mr and Mrs Potter as they learned how to work as a special operations team.

"Harry, why are you picking them off one at a time?"

"Target practice, 'Mione. Are we on a schedule?"

Hermione nodded. "Table reservation's at seven. It's half four now."

"Okay."

He stood and cast a series of banishing and engorgement charms on a handful of pebbles. There were seventeen puffs of dust as seventeen animated mummies were dispatched.

They went and examined the next door, removing the hexes and curses in short order.

Once the doors were opened, further traps were rapidly disarmed and the tomb declared safe. They left to make their report.

.

"Right, graduation time. One last test, straight pass or fail. This is an international portkey, it'll take you into South America. There is a site that needs opening and evidence of magic removing. Any special-knowledge artefacts to be transferred out when you return."

After fetching their field packs, they grabbed the parchment and left.

Two days later, dirty and covered with cuts and bruises, they returned.

"Hi Crock. Here's the goodies. Some are pretty dark and some are just unusual. Site's clear and fit for muggle tourists. Paperwork with the Peruvian Ministry is all dealt with."

Harry placed a shrunken trunk on the desk, Hermione placed their report on top.

"Okay, go get some sleep. The Peruvian Ministry send their thanks on a job well done. They wanted to complement you both on a quick, clean and thorough clear-up. Oh, by the way, you've both passed admirably. Two weeks leave of absence, so I don't want to see you around here until September first.

Croaker was intrigued to see in their report that there were two vampires in the chamber. Harry had dispatched both by hand, a most remarkable feat. He felt vindicated in insisting on recruiting the young man, especially when teamed with his brilliant wife.


	2. Chapter 2: Death of a Lady

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book of Death**

_**Chapter 2: Death of a Lady**_

by Polydicta

**Summary:**

Harry seeks revenge after Hermione is killed, but finds that they have both undergone a life-changing event. Violence, blood, character death, normal marital relations, necromantic themes. ON HIATUS.

This story is on PERMANENT HIATUS - that is, until I feel inspired to add anything more to it. I know where I want it to go but lack the inspiration or the drive to get there. I'm hoping that the guilt of leaving everyone hanging will motivate me … or something.

**Disclaimer: **

All fiction is derivative and fan fiction doubly so. I make no claim to own any part of any of the following, all I have done is an attempt to put together the elements in a novel fashion, using words and ideas like Lego ™ bricks.

There is no money involved – all I do is to share what I do for my own amusement.

-::::::::-

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book Of Death**

_**Chapter 2: Death of a Lady**_

**.**

Hermione woke slowly. She had a delicious ache in her hips that spoke of their nocturnal activities. The smile that curled her lips was enough to tell the world how … satisfied she was with her married life.

"Happy anniversary, 'Mione!"

"Nice man to remember. Happy anniversary, Mr Potter. What have you got planned?"

Harry grinned. "You just wait and see, woman of my own, but we need to be up and about by eleven and packed by lunch time."

"Packed?"

She felt him nod. "I've booked a hotel."

.

Harry had planned their second honeymoon to the finest detail.

They arrived at Glasgow airport by portkey at two, then picking up a hire car, they drove through Scotland to a sleepy village on the west coast.

The Forester was a small muggle hotel run by a couple of wizarding folk, and the young couple were welcomed warmly.

"Just married, dears? "

Harry chuckled. "Second honeymoon. It's been five years."

The landlady smiled. "And you're more in love now than you were."

.

During their ten days, Harry had planned visits to the Isle of Skye, the coast, Loch Ness and Aberdeen, they wandered up Ben Nevis and into the Cairngorm Mountains.

Each night they returned to the hotel tired and yet feeling wonderful.

Each night they seemed to grow closer, waking snuggled more warmly, more and more in love.

They were in the forest when Harry turned around and kissed Hermione for no apparent reason. She simply melted into him, their mouths blending together, their bodies moulding themselves closer, their eyes closed and the world far, far away.

As they gently broke their kiss, Harry murmured, "As thou breathest, so breathe I. As thy heart beateth, so beateth mine. As thou lovest me, I loveth thee. So mote it thus, eternally."

Hermione blinked and repeated his words. The trees were momentarily lit by a golden glow, ignored by the young couple so wrapped in each other's eyes.

Eventually, they continued their walk arms entangled with each other, pressed as close as humanly possible.

That night their loving was of a gentle sort, full of tenderness and touches, of caresses and kisses. And after, a slumber that was like the drifting of an owl's wings through the night.

.

Two nights later, they were walking through the forest behind the village. Hermione had been teasing Harry and, laughing, started running. A wild game of hide and seek in amongst the well-spaced trees followed. Suddenly there was a shriek.

"Hermione!"

Harry ran, his wand slipping into his hand and immediately lighting the area.

He found her slumped at the foot of a tree, blood staining her neck.

"Hermione?"

She was still, her eyes open, pale and lifeless. He couldn't find a pulse, no breath, nothing. Without further thought, he picked her up and apparated them to St Mungo's.

.

"I'm sorry, Mr Potter, there was nothing we could do … she was already …"

"What was it that attacked her?"

The healer looked at him. "A vampire. She's full of the venom, but she wasn't turned. The aim was to kill. I'm sorry."

Broken, Harry returned to Grimmauld Place where he passed the dread news on to Sirius and Remus.

Harry just sat and brooded.

For reasons that he would never be able to explain, he sat and simply said, "As thou breathest, so breathe I. As thy heart beateth, so beateth mine. As thou lovest me, so I loveth thee. So mote it thus, eternally."

His tears flowed as though the sea was attempting to wash his grief from his soul. As he sat, the day turned and he reflected on their lives together. The troll, when they had first become friends …

The picture-book of his mind supplied him with the memories that had fuelled his patronus, a great seven-point stag that was not only corporeal but coloured.

Their first date, the Valentines' Ball in second year. The various feasts and parties in third year. The Yule Ball during the year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the night he had realised his love for her. Their dates during the fifth and sixth years. He had proposed to her on her birthday, a quiet dinner for two in the Room of Requirement.

The look of love in her eyes that night still brought a smile to his lips and the sun into his heart. Now it wrenched a scream of anguish from his throat.

Their wedding, the utter bliss of their love. Their unending love … a love that simply grew, that had now ripped his soul in half.

As he sat, his heart and spirit shredded, he remembered his wedding vows, their private promise so recently renewed.

"Oh, my Mione … I swear, before I come to you, I will wipe out the evil that took you from me. And then I will follow you beyond the confines of the world…

"I swear, on my life, my soul, my magic that we shall be together until the world ends. There is no life without you. If I cannot have you back then I will come to you, My Love."

At last, he emerged from his room. His eyes blank, his soul hollowed out. He had passed beyond mere grief and despair into the cold depths beyond feeling, the icy land beyond emotion. His will was like a glacier, cold, patient and, ultimately, an irresistible force fuelled by loss and love, his thoughts turned to ice, his intentions to cold steel.

"Harry?"

"Bring her here. There is a small crypt, isn't there?" Harry's voice was cold and emotionless.

Sirius nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I have things to do before I can say goodbye."

The marauder looked at his godson, his own heart breaking for the young man.

"Make sure they don't touch her. That they don't defile her."

Sirius nodded. "I understand. The books … they're not … they can't bring …"

"No, Sirius, this isn't about necromancy. This is about honour. I made a sacred vow, and I intend to keep it. I will be no longer than three days. If I'm not back then, I won't be coming back at all because I will already be with her. However, I _intend_ to come back to bury my wife."

.

Hermione's coffin was brought into the Black mansion's crypt that evening. Harry lifted the lid and looked at his dead wife's grey features, now peaceful in repose.

"Hermione, My Love, I swear by all that is right and holy in this world, I swear by my life and my magic that I will avenge your death or die in trying. Wait for me, My Love, because I will be joining you soon, one way or another."

He closed the lid and walked back up into the house.

"Goodbye, Sirius. Remember us well, if I don't come back."

"Harry? You'll need this…"

Sirius handed Harry a sword, a long, curved blade with a strange, hand-fitting grip, and a short, heavy fighting knife with a similar grip.

"This was my great grandfather's hunting sword and knife. They have silver lacing through them. Use them well. Good luck."

Harry took them and apparated away, arriving at the hotel.

"Mr Potter? Is there …?"

"My wife was murdered by a vampire not a mile from here last night. She was bitten but not turned."

The landlady blanched. "There were rumours, but …"

Harry nodded. "What can you tell me? I shall be destroying the nest."

There was little enough to go on, but Harry had an idea.

.

Two nights later, he found the nest, the lair, but the three vampires were out, presumably to feed.

He waited.

It was past midnight when the three arrived: two females and a male.

"I will return, my pets. I must see to business before we sleep."

The male departed and the two females … waited.

Harry stepped out from the shadows, eliciting gasps from the pair.

"We never heard … or smelled …"

"No, you wouldn't, would you. Which of you killed my wife, three nights since?"

"it was Savarin! Not us! We don't want to … we are young … only a few weeks since he turned us …"

They had separated in an attempt to flank Harry. They sprang together and the sword swept in a horizontal arc as he stepped back. As one, the two vampires collapsed, heads separated from their shoulders.

Harry shook his head. The male was their alpha, and with a name like that, probably an old one, too.

He stepped outside the mine tunnel that the vampires had been using as a lair. He waited.

The vampire entered the tunnel, and a yell emerged.

"Nooooooo!"

Harry knew that the creatures were fast, faster than a human, strong as a troll on steroids and capable of all manner of mind manipulation magic, but still he would attack the killer of his beloved Hermione.

Harry stepped in. "Yes. As you, Savarin, took my wife, so I have taken yours. And now you too will die."

"Ah, the brown-haired witch. Yes, she was most satisfying."

The vampire launched himself at Harry, transforming while diving. His fangs grew, his nails lengthened into talons and his body became enlarged and wiry.

Harry dropped the sword as soon as he failed to connect, seizing the knife.

"A schtrong one … you would make an ecshellent addition to my family…"

Harry broke away from the creature, cut and bleeding. The blood was distracting the vampire, he could see the creature becoming frenzied.

It launched itself at Harry, and with a massive back-hand sweep of Harry's knife, the head sprang from it's shoulders.

Harry was laughing hysterically at that, the vampire's momentum had carried it's head onward and had hit Harry in the mouth with its lips as in some macabre farewell kiss. There was blood everywhere, and Harry was covered with it. He could even taste it, and he guessed that it was unlikely to be all his own.

He left the mine tunnel and cast the spell to scour it with fiendfyre, letting the fire burn for a few minutes before dousing it.

He returned to the hotel, collected his and Hermione's belongings and, shrinking the car, apparated to Glasgow to return the car. He then returned to Grimmauld Place just as the sky was brightening.

.

"Harry?"

"It's done. I'll clean up and rest. I have some goodbyes to say tonight."

"Well done, Pup. Rest well."

Harry showered and changed, and drawing the heavy curtains on windows and four-poster bed, slept.

He woke feeling refreshed. Unexpectedly refreshed, in fact. It was dark outside.

He wandered downstairs.

"Harry? Are you…?"

He nodded. "A bit peckish, even, Sirius."

"How are those cuts?"

Harry looked at his arms. "They healed okay, same as ever. Why?"

"Just wondered. Now, care to tell me about it?"

"Later, when tonight's duties are done."

He fetched himself a glass of milk and drank it.

"I'll eat when I come back up, and we can have a proper chat."

.

Harry went down to the crypt and lifted the lid on Hermione's coffin.

"Well, Love, I did it, and survived long enough to come back to tell you goodbye."

He looked long at her grey features, but for that he would think she was merely sleeping.

He leaned over her still form, weeping silently. He choked out once more his vow.

"As thou breathest, so breathe I. As thy heart beateth, so beateth mine. As thou lovest me, so I loveth thee. So mote it thus, eternally."

His tears fell on her still face, sizzling slightly as they landed.

He bent down to kiss her cold lips, slightly parted as though from a recent kiss.

He kissed her goodbye and as he broke the cold kiss, he whispered, "I love you, Hermione. I love you."

.

There was a sudden intake of breath and the woman's eyes opened in shock.

"Harry?"

"Hermione … how? wha…?"

"Oh, Goddess, Harry, what's happened?"

She stared at him. "Where ..? Oh my …!"

Her skin was beginning to take on the colour of life, once more. Harry could see the irregular pulse in her neck take on a human regularity and he could see the rise and fall of her breast as she breathed the good air.

.

He helped her from her uncanny bed and led her upstairs.

"Sirius?"

"Harry … are you … Merlin's ghost, what's …?"

"Harry, I'm sorry, but I'm hungry, and …"

She was staring at Sirius's neck. She broke off and looked at her husband. "What's happened to me?"

Harry noticed her now overgrown canines.

"Hermione, I'm afraid that it's not that good. Look, umm …"

Harry took out a mug and his wand.

"_Exsanguinatio_."

Blood ran thickly into the mug from Harry's wrist until he cast _finite_. The sight had left Hermione hypnotised.

"Feed."

She drank the half-pint of her husband's blood greedily, and the colour came even more to her cheeks.

"Thank you, but does this mean …?"

Harry nodded. "Yes it does. You have been dead for the past four days. St Mungo's said that you'd been envenomed by a vampire and killed but with no attempt to turn you … quite … oh, Merlin's teeth!"

Sirius looked at Harry. "What?"

"When I killed the alpha, I got his spit and blood all over me, in cuts and in my mouth. I assume … Sirius, we'll need another coffin, I fear."

"You mean?"

Harry nodded. "Looks like we may have another vampire in the family."

He stood and went to his wife. "Hermione, as thou breathest, so breathe I. As thy heart beateth, so beateth mine. As thou lovest me, so I loveth thee. So mote it thus, eternally."

She repeated his words. He lifted her to her feet and tenderly kissed her once more warm, pink lips, tasting the lingering metallic flavour of his own blood.

"I love you forever."

Harry told the tale of the end of Savarin the vampire and his two wives. He returned Sirius' sword and knife, and they sat and talked through the night.

And at last they went, together, back into the darkness below the hidden mansion at twelve Grimmauld Place, beyond the reach of the sun they could never again enjoy.


	3. Chapter 3: Of Death and Life

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book of Death**

_**Chapter 3: Of Death and Life**_

by Polydicta

**Summary:**

Harry seeks revenge after Hermione is killed, but finds that they have both undergone a life-changing event. Violence, blood, character death, normal marital relations, necromantic themes. ON HIATUS.

This story is on PERMANENT HIATUS - that is, until I feel inspired to add anything more to it. I know where I want it to go but lack the inspiration or the drive to get there. I'm hoping that the guilt of leaving everyone hanging will motivate me … or something.

**Disclaimer: **

All fiction is derivative and fan fiction doubly so. I make no claim to own any part of any of the following, all I have done is an attempt to put together the elements in a novel fashion, using words and ideas like Lego ™ bricks.

There is no money involved – all I do is to share what I do for my own amusement.

-::::::::-

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book Of Death**

_**Chapter 3: Of Death and Life**_

.

That day, Harry slept fitfully, laying on a sofa brought down from one of the rooms above. Hermione, on the other hand had blinked into, well, unconsciousness was too mild a word.

Harry gave up. He sat and thought. Regarding his wife, currently lying inert in a coffin. Yes, he thought, she was a true vampire. During daylight hours she lay dead, at night she would wake and return to life. There was something odd, though, since she had a heartbeat, she breathed, she ate and she was warm. it was only when she rested that she became once more a corpse.

Harry recalled the three vampires he'd slain – poor, cold, pale, mockeries of life. Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to be a truly living woman last night.

He shook his head, wondering what was truly happening.

There were footfalls on the stair down from the cellars.

"Remus? Is that you?"

"Harry? I thought …? What's going on?"

"I have no idea. Hermione's resting. No, she's inert, dead again. I'm just sat here fretting."

Remus emerged, carrying a safety lantern.

"I just wondered what the situation was down here. I could hear movement is all."

"Your werewolf senses? "

He nodded. "I have to say, it doesn't smell of vampire down here."

"Really?"

Remus nodded. "Vampires have a distinctive smell. Ammonia from the blood and, I don't know, a slight smell of sweet decay."

He sniffed. "You smell faintly of blood, but mainly of the same Harry I've known for years."

He walked over to Hermione's coffin, and sniffed.

"Strange, she also smells faintly of blood, but still of her living smell. For the past two days, I'm sorry, she smelled like a corpse."

"It's alright, Remus, I understand. Do you feel your instinctive reaction to vampires down here?"

He shook his head. "No, there's none of the fear and loathing, More than anything, there's a feel of melancholia and loss. Is there anything I can do?"

Harry smiled weakly. "Actually, there is. I'm going to need a supply of blood replenishing potion and, I have an idea from a film. We watched it an age past, I'm going to need fresh pig's blood from the slaughterhouse, and plenty of it, preserved warm with a stasis charm. Oh, and the number of an all-night pizza delivery service."

Remus' head jerked up. "Pardon?"

"I'm starving. I haven't eaten in three days, and I've lost a pint or so of blood. I want to make sure that Hermione has something on hand that she can quell her … hunger. Last night I gave her my blood, but I only have so much to spare."

"I heard. A mug full."

Harry nodded. "Yes, but I'd already lost quite a bit the previous night, all over the inside of a mine."

Remus shuddered, imagining the carnage inside the mine from a fight with three vampires.

"Okay, so a fourteen inch pizza with everything for you, what about Hermione?"

"Remus, forget the pizza … actually contemplating it is making me … Merlin! I forgot. It's the garlic!"

"So, no Italian for you any more. That's a shame. What do you fancy?"

Harry smiled. "A nice, rare steak with chips and, hmm, a side salad, no dressing. That restaurant round the corner does take away, I think."

Remus grinned. "Well, not much wrong with you then. Anything else?"

"Thanks, Remus. I'll move our stuff down here once the sun's down. And I'll also bring down some reading matter. I think I need to do some research, but could you deal with the potions and the blood?"

Remus nodded. "Ath you with, marthter," he lisped theatrically.

"Thank you Eyegore. Werewolf?"

Pointing at himself he replied, "there wolf!"

They laughed together, a relief for both of them.

After Remus left, Harry concentrated.

"Dobby?"

"Yes Harry? What… Oh."

"What do you sense, Dobby?"

"You and Hermione. You are … changed."

"Okay, Dobby, I need some help here. What do you sense about the changes in us."

"Well, it's difficult. You have something … different. You are …"

The elf scratched his head.

"More _real_, I suppose, as though there is more of you than there was. I can feel you, like the world bends around you."

Harry blinked. "That sounds deep."

Dobby nodded.

"What about Hermione?"

"That's confusing. She's, well, she feels a long way away right now, but last night, she … it was almost as though there were two like you."

"Does she feel like a vampire to you, Dobby?"

The elf looked worried.

"It's alright, my friend, I'm trying to understand what's happened."

The elf was a bit perplexed.

"Kind of. It's almost as if she's a vampire and yet not. last night she was very much Hermione, but there was the hunger."

Harry nodded. "Tonight, I think we'll be busy around the house. Could you pop out tonight and see if you can find the vampire Sanguini, please? I would like to speak with him about this."

Dobby grinned. "Of course I will. Just after Hermione wakes."

"Oh, and Dobby, could you bring down anything from the library that covers vampires, please?"

A few minutes later, Harry was trawling through a stack of books. He never noticed when the candle burned down and went out, he just carried on reading in the dark. Remus came down with the take-away lunch. They exchanged a few words. Harry ate in silence after Remus went back upstairs.

Somehow, Harry had read and digested the facts from about thirty books in the space of a few hours. He let his head loll back as he sat and thought. There was nothing of any real help in any of the books.

Harry felt a change in the air. There was a sigh.

"Hermione?"

"Harry."

He went over and kissed his wife.

"Hermione, whilst I would love to dally, we have things to do. I've asked Dobby to try to get Sanguini to come over, and I'd like to do a bit of decorating down here before he arrives."

He could see his wife's perfect smile.

"Hungry?"

She giggled. "I daren't take any more of yours."

Harry smiled. "You can have all of mine if you want, but I've asked Remus to get some in."

She looked horrified.

"Don't worry. I'll explain when you've breakfasted."

They went upstairs. Remus handed Hermione a pint mug filled with red fluid. She sniffed it appreciatively and drank.

"That's nothing like yours, Harry. What you gave me last night was … I don't know, more potent. That was more like pumpkin juice to your firewhisky."

"That was pig blood. Yuck, I know, but I wanted to know if it would suffice."

She nodded. "I'll still need the odd sip from you, I think, Harry. Or something. How come you were already awake tonight?"

"I never slept. I'm not the same as you, Love. I was trying to figure out what. But there again, you're not the usual vampire either."

"Harry?"

"Sirius?"

"Just smile again, will you?"

Harry did.

"I thought so. Drink these."

Harry downed the potion, and then washed the dreadful taste away with the contents of the mug he was handed.

"Hmm, that was good. What was it?"

"Pig. Same as Hermione had."

"Ah."

.

Most of the evening was spent ferrying their furniture into the crypt, which turned out to be more spacious than Harry had thought. Besides the ancient mausoleum that he and his wife had spent the day in, there were the old dungeons. Harry did some drastic modifications, turning the whole of the lower level into a pleasant apartment below ground. Provided that you ignored the fourteenth-century stonework look, it was quite modern. He even added a magical fireplace to the common room. Idly, he wondered what a town house in London was doing with dungeons.

Harry went foraging in the attics and found most of the wooden furniture he needed, all ancient and built when quality was more important than fashion. There were ancient, enchanted iron torches that would provide them with light. He also found an old door, complete with massive, iron knocker and barred spy-hatch.

Because of the heavy door and the situation of the crypt, they decided to retain that as their bedroom, with their four-poster from upstairs and the two coffins on ledges in the wall. Armoires and wardrobes held their clothes, and other furniture completed the ensemble. There was also a magical shower and bathroom that Harry cleverly moved from upstairs.

The cells became a kitchen, a small library and a small dining room, the old guardroom became a spacious common room, complete with wizarding wireless.

A side chamber was converted to become a guest _bedroom_, complete with two coffins on wall ledges and some basic furniture.

"Harry, why is there a ruddy great, iron-bound door at the foot of the stairs?"

"That's our new front door, Sirius. I want a bit of warning when van Helsing turns up."

All of a sudden there was a strange, hunched figure clumping down the stairs.

"Who in Merlin's name are you?"

"Igor, Marthter. Thome houth elf arthked around for an Igor for a family of vampireth new to the thity."

"Thank you, Tonks, we'll let you know."

As she morphed back into her own shape, she asked. "how did you know?"

"It was the pink tips to the hair. You've been reading Hermione's disk-world books, haven't you?"

"Poo! You guessed."

There was a knock at the front door and Dobby answered.

A large figure came down the stairs.

"Sanguini, welcome!"

The tall, rogue vampire looked at Harry and Hermione and blanched.

"I apologise, Lord …"

"WHAT?"

Sanguini blinked. "I Apologise, Lord …"

"Whatever for. Look, enter and be welcome. Hermione and I have need of your … advice."

The vampire blinked. "But …"

"Have you eaten tonight?"

"No, Lord, I came straight here without feeding. Your servant seemed … urgent."

Harry laughed. "Dobby is no servant, he's family, and to him, I suppose, everything is urgent. We only have rare steak and pig I'm afraid."

Sanguini blinked again, starting to suffer from culture shock. He seemed to be in a pleasantly appointed dungeon apartment with … well, two vampires, a werewolf, a witch and a wizard. None, he added mentally, seemed quite normal. The alpha in front of him was quite terrifying, actually, and so was his …

Harry handed the vampire a mug with daisies on. He sniffed the contents and smiled. He drank the, well, it was certainly mild, but it refreshed his thoughts. But daisies?

"Thank you, Lord."

"Now, please sit. First, less of this _Lord_ stuff. As far as I'm concerned, we're friends. We met a few years back at one of Slughorn's parties."

Sanguini nodded. "Of course, Lord Potter." He smiled.

"That's just Harry, thanks."

.

Sanguini swallowed hard.

"Look, I'll explain. Hermione and I encountered a little trouble …"

An hour later, the tale was told.

"You killed Savarin in a fight? Without using magic? Without backup or traps?"

Harry nodded.

"And you killed his two latest brides likewise?"

Harry nodded. "Who was Savarin?"

Sanguini shook his head. "Chastelvan Savarin was ancient. I recall telling you that I was turned in fourteen ninety two. Savarin was old even then. He was seen as a renegade, his sire turned him when the Romans were still expanding into central Europe. His sire was my grandsire.

"You may know Savarin better as Vlad Tepes, the Impaler. He rebelled against his sire, killing him, and then began his reign of terror. The locals still call him Vlad Drakul, Vlad the Devil."

"So he was ancient. Surely that means he was getting slow."

"No, My Lord, he was truly powerful, in his full maturity and continuing to grow. He was well known for siring wives and then destroying them when he became … weary of them. He killed any vampire who entered his territory and he always killed when he fed. He was truly formidable, able to change at will with barely a thought."

Harry nodded. "Yes, he got me with his talons and split my lip with his teeth."

Sanguini shuddered. This one was truly formidable if Savarin had died at his hand, to a knife-blow, at that.

"Did you taste his blood? His venom?"

Harry nodded. "Both, I guess. I was also pretty sliced up, so I'd imagine both got into the cuts, too."

Sanguini nodded in understanding. "Then it is likely that you are what is known as Upir, a living vampire, one who has the powers of the vampire and the strengths of the quick. Did you sleep at sunrise?"

Harry shook his head. "No, in fact I haven't slept since Hermione first woke."

"And that, Lord, is another thing. Upir have the power of the breath of life. They can return one who is dead but unchanged to a semblance of life. I see that your Lady breathes and lives, and yet is vampire. She is one of the rarest and most precious things in our society. Immortal, like her Upir sire, and yet as faithful as the night. Both you and she are powerful, both of you will retain the magic of your living days, and both, well, let me say that you will command respect from all the vampire clans.

"It may be that you will only sleep when you wish to, and that may remain the sleep of the quick. Upir, like Dhampir, may remain abroad in daylight, but I would caution you, Lord, to avoid direct sunlight. The burns from overexposure are painful and take a long time to heal."

"So sunlight isn't necessarily fatal? I could expose you, for example, briefly, and you'd only suffer a sunburn?"

Sanguini nodded. "Essentially so, My Lord. Oh, and I would venture one piece of advice. Never drink your tea or coffee too hot, the burns are excruciating and potentially fatal. Most injuries, however, heal rapidly.

Harry saw Sanguini from the premises with the exhortation to look in if he felt like it.

Sanguini felt that he could obtain infinite mileage from being able to boast the new Lord's friendship, but he considered that politically too dangerous.

He shuddered at the very thought of an alpha male with an alpha mate. This Potter was one to watch. He felt, preferably from another continent. Even that, he suspected, may be too close.

.

Before going down to Hermione, Harry wrote a letter to Croaker explaining that Hermione and he were unwell and would probably not be returning to work in the near future.

He petted his familiar, speaking gentle words to the faithful snowy owl and sent her off with his letter. He had expected Hedwig to avoid him, but somehow, the owl still recognised him as _her_ human. If human he still was.

.

Returning to their apartment, he found that Remus, Sirius and Tonks had gone to bed, leaving Hermione sitting reading.

"They're not night birds like us, Love."

"I'm no bird, Harry, I'm a bat, remember?"

"You're no bat. You're too beautiful."

"Harry, what's going to happen to us?"

"Well, first, I think we have some unfinished business from the night you were attacked …"

He enfolded her in his arms and captured her lips with his own before lifting her gently and taking her to their bedroom.

He felt the dawn break, and she was still sleeping, a living woman, in his arms. He kissed her tenderly and she stirred.

"Hmmm, Harry … I'm still sleepy."

He chuckled quietly. "Yes, and its daylight outside."

She never heard, she was already asleep again, breathing evenly. Harry settled down, pulling the duvet over them both and went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Of Riches and Rich Food

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book of Death**

_**Chapter 4: Of Riches and Rich Food.**_

by Polydicta

**Summary:**

Harry seeks revenge after Hermione is killed, but finds that they have both undergone a life-changing event. Violence, blood, character death, normal marital relations, necromantic themes. ON HIATUS.

This story is on PERMANENT HIATUS - that is, until I feel inspired to add anything more to it. I know where I want it to go but lack the inspiration or the drive to get there. I'm hoping that the guilt of leaving everyone hanging will motivate me … or something.

**Disclaimer: **

All fiction is derivative and fan fiction doubly so. I make no claim to own any part of any of the following, all I have done is an attempt to put together the elements in a novel fashion, using words and ideas like Lego ™ bricks.

There is no money involved – all I do is to share what I do for my own amusement.

-::::::::-

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book Of Death**

_**Chapter 4: Of Riches and Rich Food.**_

_**.**_

Harry and Hermione woke as the sun dipped below the horizon.

"Harry?"

"Good morning, sleepy head."

"Umm … I had a weird dream …"

She opened her eyes and saw darkness. He felt her tense.

"It wasn't a dream was it?"

"I'm sorry, Love, but no."

"Then why am I in bed with you and not laying in my coffin?"

Harry stroked her hair, feeling the warmth of her body beside his own.

"I think we are both Upir, living dead and not undead."

"I don't remember Sanguini telling us that …?"

Harry gently said, "no, 'Mione, it's something I read across several of Sirius' books yesterday as you … slept. They didn't make much sense then, but they do now."

"What books?"

Harry listed the twenty seven titles.

"You read all of those in a day?"

Harry nodded and kissed his wife's hair. "Yes, it would appear that we have something approaching vampire speed, and definitely vampire sight. Now, I suspect that we both need to shower and get ready for the day."

"Night."

"Sorry, I was trying to maintain some sense of normalcy is all."

.

As they showered together, Hermione noticed some marks on Harry's neck.

"I thought you said that you weren't bitten?"

harry smiled. "Not until last morning. You bit me during a moment of passion."

"Oh Merlin, I'm sorry …"

He silenced her with a gentle fingertip.

"No, don't be. It was quite … magical, actually. And then you …"

"I wanted you to bite …"

Harry kissed the place on her neck where he had marked her. Interestingly, the scars from where she had been attacked had faded completely, but these …

"I suppose that we each marked the other as ours. Don't worry about it Love. I guess neither of us feels pain in the same way, anyway."

.

They were sat in the kitchen with Sirius and Remus when there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it, Dobby?"

"A wizard, Harry, calling himself Croaker would like to see you both please Harry, Hermione?"

"Thanks Dobby, I'll see him in. Hermione, could you do breakfast, please?"

Hermione grinned, her fangs lengthening.

"Down girl! A pint each, no?"

.

Harry returned with Croaker just as Hermione put two stoneware mugs on the table.

"Mr Black?"

"Croaker, long time no see. I assume that this is business and not a social call?"

The unspeakable nodded.

"I'll leave you then."

"No, Sirius, We'll take Croaker and our breakfast down to the apartment."

The unspeakable's eyebrows lifted. "_Down_ to your apartment? Breakfast?"

Harry nodded as he handed Hermione through the door.

.

Sitting in the Potters' intimate dining room, Harry took a mouthful from his mug. He nodded.

"Umm … just what _is_ that you're drinking?"

"Fresh pig's blood. It's not as … _rich_ as human, but a lot less controversial."

Croaker asked, "I assume that the sickness you are suffering from was terminal?"

"Well, kind of, but it's not really that simple. We both have a pulse and normal human body temperature."

Croaker looked at the couple appraisingly.

"You are both marked …"

"By each other."

They told the entire story.

"Strange … you were turned without being bitten, Mr Potter. And Mrs Potter, you seem to have the same life status as Mr Potter, despite being un-turned and dead for several days. I fear that I feel another research project coming on … after you have completed your next assignment, the task you would have been given if you had never been taken … unwell."

"Oh? I would have thought that …"

Croaker smiled, the first time either had seen him do so.

"Strange to say, as far as the department is concerned, this is a massive boost. It makes your official hours a little … odd, to be sure, but since you are eminently qualified as field operatives, it simplifies certain tasks we have needed to deal with for some time.

"I can let you have another week to sort out your lives. I understand that this is a … _life_-changing experience, after all." He chuckled at his own _bon mot_.

"After that, we will expect to see you in the department. I will ensure that your office has the … appropriate daytime facilities … and that the canteen stocks suitable, umm, foodstuffs for you. Just as a matter of interest, how does Mr Lupin feel about you both?"

Harry smiled toothily, making Croaker swallow hard.

"Remus says that we don't smell or feel like vampire to him, but he has no experience with _upir_, so he can't speak about that as being typical or atypical."

"Upir? You class yourselves as living-dead? Are you certain?"

Hermione shook her head, her eyes sparkling. "Not at all. The material that Harry found was very vague, being traditional vampire lore. Upir is merely supposition and a simple, if possibly inaccurate label."

Croaker pondered for a moment, uncertainty clouding his mind.

"Croaker, whatever you want to ask, just ask. We know that you ask out of a desire to know and not to be insulting."

He looked at Hermione. "How…?"

"I could smell your uncertainty and, well, fear. Slight, yes, so concern more."

The unspeakable smiled. "Well, I was wondering if we could check you over with Dumbledore's soul analyser and a scale-reading dark detector?"

Harry smiled, less toothily now that he had fed. "That would be … interesting."

.

They flooed to Hogwarts with Croaker and consulted Dumbledore.

"Mr Potter, Mrs Potter, you have … changed."

They both nodded. "A harrowing time for both of us, I'm afraid. We'd both now be subjects for the current DADA professor, I'm afraid."

He looked confused until Harry smiled and let his fangs grow longer.

"Ah. My … condolences?"

"Can we wait until we've adjusted before we accept your condolences. According to Croaker here, congratulations may be more in order."

.

The soul-analyser showed two un-tainted souls.

"Strange to say, both of your souls seem brighter than the day you defeated Lord Voldemort. The dark detector seems to have drifted into the negative end of the scale. You're almost angelic, according to my calculations. Most odd.

"Tell me everything, please."

Two hours later, Croaker and Dumbledore had listened and then had asked their questions. Dumbledore was more than slightly interested that Harry had destroyed an ancient vampire as well as its two mates. Then Croaker mentioned that the pair had taken down two truly ancient vampires from an ancient South-American tomb.

Dumbledore shuddered. "So, you were potential vampire hunters before … turning. Most odd. And considering what you told me of your adventure at the end of your fifth year … the gateway …"

Croaker's ears pricked, so the couple recounted their experiences immediately prior to Tom Riddle's defeat.

"Very strange. That gateway has been in the department for many years. You are the first to have seen it, well, active. It seems as though you are … fated?"

The pair nodded. Harry said, "It is getting early, and we need to be home before sunrise. I'd rather not risk being caught aboveground if I can help it, and we still don't know if our … lives … are stable yet, what our routine needs to be."

They said their goodbyes and left Croaker and Dumbledore talking. Walking across the grounds they snuggled together, observed by Minerva McGonagall who was standing at her window. She was suddenly aware that the pair had simply apparated before they reached the gates.

Well, the headmaster was on site, and he would be aware of any problems with the school's wards.

.

Arriving in their crypt, Hermione said, "I feel …tired."

Harry nodded. "Me too. I think …"

She nodded her understanding. "Night, 'Mione."

"Night Harry. Sleep tight."

"Sweet dreams…"

Harry closed and sealed the door to their apartment. They slipped into bed together, tired beyond belief and, snuggled up, they slept soundly until sunset.

.

When they woke, Hermione was hungry. The blood she drank merely took the edge off her need, so Harry told her to take what she needed from him. The blood-letting turned rapidly into a romp together.

After, they lay, tangled in each other's limbs.

"Harry, did I ever tell you that I love you?"

He smiled into her hair. "Yes, but don't stop telling me. And, while we're on the subject, I love you too, Hermione Jane."

She smiled and drifted on the edge of sleep.

"Harry, is this normal vampire behaviour?"

"Hmm, no, I don't believe so, but there again, we don't appear to be entirely vampire, do we?"

She giggled and lapped at a few drops of blood that she had missed next to his collar bone, initiating another round of love making.

.

"Sorry to disturb you both, but Croaker has flooed, asking to meet with you tonight at two, and there is a goblin, Mr Longaxe, at the door to see you."

"Evening Dobby, thanks. Would you show the goblin into our common room while we get showered and dressed please?"

"No problems, Hermione."

He popped out again.

.

The meeting with Longaxe went well. It seemed that Gringotts had a long tradition of catering to the needs of what he referred to as their _specialist accounts customers_ – vampires and others for whom approaching the bank during their regular opening hours would be difficult, dangerous or outright suicide.

"Who but vampires would have this difficulty?"

The goblin smiled toothily. "You may be surprised. Gringotts in Greece handles the accounts of a number of Medusae, there are half-demons and even loong whose business we hold."

"Loong?"

Hermione looked at Harry. "Loong are Chinese dracoforms, but they are of very high intellect. The Oolong family, for example, are the foremost magical healers in China."

Harry's eyes grew wide. "It seems that I have much to learn, Obi-Wan."

The goblin laughed with the couple, and broached the matter in hand.

"Mr Potter, it has come to the attention of the Goblin Board of Affairs that you and your lady, Mrs Potter, have recently come into an inheritance of some considerable size."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other questioningly. "If you say so, Mr Longaxe, but I'm not sure that either of us are aware of anything?"

The goblin grinned disconcertingly. "I believe that you declared a magical vendetta against the vampire Chastelvan Savarin, also styling himself Vlad Tepes Drakuul, for the murder of your wife here, for whom I am pleased, death seems not to have proven a barrier to life.

"Under the ancient laws of vendetta, and lacking any living descendants his entire wealth comes now to yourself, less, of course, the usual finders' fee."

Harry blinked. "Tak percent, yes?"

The goblin nodded, pleased to hear this wizard use the correct goblin term for eleven. "Which puts us into a rather unenviable position. It seems that Savarin was extremely wealthy, even by vampire standards. He was what we call an acquisitive vampire. He killed for sport and annexed his victims' estates."

Hermione asked, "and you find that this is a problem in what way?"

The goblin looked embarrassed. "Speaking frankly, we do not believe that we have enough gold physically in our vault system to cover the transfer. Much of the gold in the banking system is tied up in investments through a system of promissory notes."

"How much of Savarin's wealth was tied up in promissory notes?"

"Almost a half."

"In terms of galleons?"

The goblin swallowed hard. "Nearly a hundred thousand … million."

Harry laughed, gaining a sharp look from Hermione and Longaxe.

"Mr Longaxe, what function do you suppose that kind of money serves in the real world, and I don't mean the world of investment?"

The goblin looked mystified. "It's gold, it is there to invest …"

"No, for an individual person, it's just a way of keeping score, to see how well you're doing. How much have Hermione and I spent from our family vault in the past five years?"

"About thirty thousand galleons, why?"

"And our income for the same period?"

"About forty thousand galleons."

"Assuming the same rate of outgoing, and no income from working, how long would a hundred million galleons last us?"

"Forever, the income from investments is more than your outgoings."

"So, if I were to give all but a hundred million galleons away, I would actually be no worse off in my lifestyle? Correct?"

The goblin nodded.

"So, I don't actually _need_ the gold referred to by those promissory notes. That is gold that has been invested somewhere, yes?"

The goblin nodded.

"Right, so this is what you'll do. Negotiate those promissory notes to my account, taking the usual legal fees into consideration for deduction from _those_ notes. Are any of those notes representing loans to individuals or specific organisations?"

The goblin nodded and brought out a list. It was long.

Harry marked about half of them.

"The notes marked with an _x _are to be cancelled, and offered to the original borrowers for redemption with a value of one knut each. I can afford to write off those debts, after all. The notes marked with a _c_ are to be called in as they are now long overdue. I will accept whatever cash, investments, goods, chattels and property the individuals possess by way of closing payment.

"Everything else needs to be reviewed. Finally, what is the state of any loans outstanding taken out by St Mungo's?"

"I cannot …"

Harry cut him off. "Yes or no. They have significant loans?"

The goblin nodded. "Yes they do."

"Redeem the loans from these notes at one knut. How much is the gold shortfall now?"

"You have halved it."

The evening wore on and the accounts were settled, the goblin looking ever more nonplussed at the cavalier cancellation of debts and loans. His only consolation being that this new account holder was avoiding the terminal embarrassment of causing a run on the bank. Longaxe had not expected to see another dawn with the news he had brought.

Smiling to himself, he knew that heads would roll when he returned to Gringotts, since much of the problem was caused by mismanagement of the physical funds, and by excessive risk-taking.

After finalising their new banking arrangements they bade Longaxe goodnight.

"So, Love, let's see? We are now, apparently, the richest single family in Wizarding Europe, and possibly in muggle Europe too. What are we going to spend our money on?"

Hermione grinned toothily. "How about our own, private pig-farm and abbatoir? We could employ the Goyles and the Malfoys. I love the way you just ruined every major pureblood-agenda and Voldemort supporting family in the UK."

"I know you love me, but I never said I was nice … and I'm certainly no saint."

She giggled and they kissed. Their kissing gradually turned into something more intimate that they adjourned to their bedroom.

Toward the peak of their pleasure, they found themselves biting each other which pushed them over the edge. Afterward, they lay, a tangle of limbs and bodies, just basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"What did it say in the books about that?"

"It didn't, but there again, we're re-writing the books, I think."

"Hmm-mm!"

"Fancy a snack?"

Hermione nodded. "I could really murder a steak."

"Really? Fine, you're on. Eat in or out?"

"That restaurant around the corner?"

.

For the first time since being attacked, Hermione left the secure confines of the wizarding world.

The clientele wondered at the young couple eating the large, blue sirloin steaks. The couple were obviously very different from the usual customers. These two were dressed and groomed immaculately, and obviously extremely well heeled.

"You do realise that this is the first normal meal that you've eaten since waking, don't you?"

She smiled and nodded. "And I'm really enjoying it, too. Thank you Love."

The wine, a rich Hungarian red called _Bull's Blood_ amused them immensely, but they found that the alcohol didn't seem to affect them at all. They finished their meal, not with a pudding, but a further savoury dish, this time a starter of lamb cooked in red wine.

The waiter raised an eyebrow. Harry explained that he and his wife were both unable to handle much sweet food. The waiter smiled and nodded.

In an undertone he said, "We have night walkers here often. We had heard rumours of a newly turned couple nearby."

Harry nodded almost imperceptibly as the waiter continued.

"There are some who would make sport if they could. We are close here. It is safer."

When Harry asked for the bill, there was a business card with a name and a mobile phone number.

Harry paid, and the owner spoke with them. "Night folk are welcome here since my daughter became one of you herself. If you are new turned, then you may need help and, dare I say it, protection?"

Hermione laughed musically. "You are aware of the rumours about Savarin?"

The proprietor blanched, nodding nervously. "it is not good to bandy such names about."

Harry smiled and Hermione went on, "The rumours are true. Savarin is dead and burned these last few days, in a mine in Scotland."

"You know this?"

Hermione nodded. "My husband killed him in revenge for his taking my life."

The man looked carefully. "But you aren't wearing … you breathe? Oh my gods, it's true."

"Pardon?"

"Forgive me. I will tell my daughter when she returns at dawn. Can I contact you?"

Harry scribbled a note on an order pad with his mobile telephone number.

"Please, only between nightfall and dawn."

.

As they left, they heard four sets of footsteps following them. Suddenly they were confronted by three youths brandishing knives.

An arm with a knife snaked around Hermione's neck. She smiled at Harry.

"Right, yer wallet, all yer money and yer girlfriend won't get hurt."

"A snack, _would_ be nice before bed."

A blur of motion and the youth behind Harry was suddenly draped, unconscious, across the front of a car.

At the same time, Hermione had her attacker lifted by the throat. She let her fangs slide out.

"Aww …shiiiiiiiiiii …."

The scream dopplered into the distance, while the youth in Hermione's grip merely fainted. She dropped the unconscious yob.

Harry used a stabbing spell to make two shallow, though bloody puncture wounds over the boy's jugular vein as though he'd been bitten.

"It smells wrong, Harry."

"They've either been eating garlic and chilli or they've been using drugs. It wouldn't taste good, but food is food."

There was a thump and they turned to see the final punk unconscious behind them. Harry repeated the prank.

"That should tear their little gang apart."


	5. Chapter 5: Of Regent's Park Village

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book of Death**

_**Chapter 5: Of Regent's Park Village**_

by Polydicta

**Summary:**

Harry seeks revenge after Hermione is killed, but finds that they have both undergone a life-changing event. Violence, blood, character death, normal marital relations, necromantic themes. ON HIATUS.

This story is on PERMANENT HIATUS - that is, until I feel inspired to add anything more to it. I know where I want it to go but lack the inspiration or the drive to get there. I'm hoping that the guilt of leaving everyone hanging will motivate me … or something.

**Disclaimer: **

All fiction is derivative and fan fiction doubly so. I make no claim to own any part of any of the following, all I have done is an attempt to put together the elements in a novel fashion, using words and ideas like Lego ™ bricks.

There is no money involved – all I do is to share what I do for my own amusement.

-::::::::-

**Children of the Night Part 1: The Book Of Death**

_**Chapter 5: Of Regent's Park Village**_

_**.**_

Harry and Hermione had been home for less than an hour when Croaker arrived, bearing with him a shrunken trunk.

"I trust that I'm not disturbing you, but I thought I'd take the liberty of bringing you everything we currently have on the subject of vampires as well as on the portal. The latter is a pitifully small file, I'm afraid. I also put in the briefing file on your next assignment so that you can read it at your leisure. I assure you that it relates closely to your own … predicament."

"Thanks Crock. Do you want anything? Tea? Coffee? Butterbeer?"

The unspeakable grinned. "Somehow I find the offer rather … unexpected after your rather unconventional breakfast yesterday. A butterbeer would be good though."

.

They sat in the Potters' dining room as they perused the assignment file.

"This is nasty, Crock. Almost as bad as Voldemort."

"No, it's worse. Much worse, They are expanding their ranks by turning the worst dregs of humanity. They are also raising revenants – inferii … and worse."

"Worse than inferii? How?"

"Constructs and zombies … both with intelligence."

"Constructs with intelligence? You mean flesh golems?"

The wizard shuddered. "I hesitate to use the term, but _unclean_ sums them up. The small amount of information that we have suggests that this coven, if that's an appropriate term, are using humans as feed-stock and for sport, killing them for pleasure. Then, they use the resulting dead to re-animate."

Harry smiled thinly. "Well, I can hardly claim the moral high-ground on that, can I?"

"Yes you can – at least the only person re-animated was your wife, and she's pretty alive as far as I can see. We found you silver-webbed hunting knives and swords. I would take it as a personal favour if you would learn to handle them as well as possible. Each set is a sword, long knife and maingauche, that is left-hand knife. There are some other appropriate weapons and armour for you to experiment with.

"Now, the other thing is the portal. I know it's all in the file, but it was discovered on the site of the Thebes Necropolis in the fifteen hundreds and brought to London via Paris and Munich, arriving with us in eighteen fifty two.

"The carvings are in early kingdom hieroglyphs and a pre-Egyptian script that has denied proper analysis. We think it may be a separate language, much like liturgical Latin as opposed to colloquial Latin, but we aren't sure.

"There is a third, cursive script that we have placed as a form of Sunnaic, but since it is a phonetic alphabet and not idiographic we have few clues as to meaning. The aperture is a cube of four low kingdom cubits on an edge, the whole being a single monolith of an unidentified stone four cubits by twelve by twelve. the lower third being below the floor of the room. It bears carvings on all surfaces. The surfaces are, but for the text, perfectly flat and all edges knife-sharp.

"Now, I must head home. I will leave you both in peace, now, until next week."

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the night reading, they retired and slept soundly until the next evening.

.

"Harry?"

"Hmm, Remus?"

Harry looked up from his reading, his breakfast blood staining his lips.

"Harry, tomorrow night is the full moon. Moonrise is four twenty in the afternoon. I'll be in my cage when you both wake. Look in will you? I think Nym could do with the company."

"Of course we will, Remus, but are you sure that our smell won't aggravate the wolf's senses?"

"We need to see, Harry," was all Remus would say.

.

Harry's mobile 'phone rang.

"That was a Miss Alyssa Weyland, the restaurant owner's daughter. She wants to meet us. Introduce us to the local night people."

"When and where?"

"At the restaurant in an hour. You fancy a meal after?"

Hermione smiled, allowing her fangs to show.

.

"Ah, Mr and Mrs Potter, please follow me, Alyssa is waiting for you in the back room."

They walked into the back room to find about a dozen people sitting around and chatting. About two thirds were vampire, the other third seemingly spouses. Every pair of eyes was on them as they entered, the vampires' eyes all widened.

"Hi everyone." Harry smiled and looked around, outwardly oblivious to the others' reaction to Hermione and himself. Hermione knew otherwise.

"M-Mr and M-Mrs P-Potter? M-my L-lord. M-my L-lady." The girl's resemblance to the restaurant's owner told them that this was Alyssa, though not why she bowed.

Hermione smiled. "That's us. Recently joined the …um, community."

Eight surprised pairs of eyes blinked almost in unison.

"Oh, in case anyone is wondering, we both work for a government department, and that is all we can tell you."

An immaculately dressed man, apparently in his fifties spoke. "Y-your both w-wizards?"

They noticed that all of the vampires present were nervous.

"Yes, if you are aware of the wizarding world, Harry was an auror, but we both work in the Department of Mysteries."

The two of them pulled out chairs and sat.

"Now, without us revealing government secrets, what would you like to know? Other than this is my wife, Hermione and I'm Harry."

They all introduced themselves. The older man, Albert Norman, spoke.

"Well, welcome to the local community. Perhaps you could tell us something about your, umm, arrival in our midst?"

Between them they told their story, about their second honeymoon and the days since.

"So neither of you was actually sired by Savarin? Strange, and you say you destroyed him bare handed? Even stranger. But there again, as a wizard, you had some peculiar … strengths already. You both wear the mantle of power as though through long association."

One of the younger girls, Elizabeth deRoux, actually the oldest there, said, "But Albert, these are the two who defeated the Dark Lord that had the wizards so traumatised. Harry here was probably the most powerful wizard alive when he … joined us."

Hermione murmured, "actually he still is."

"Pardon? He still retains most of his magic?"

"We both do. All of it, and perhaps more."

There was a series of gasps.

"That is strange indeed. Most of us, once turned, lose most of out previous magical abilities, but are compensated by a growth in … other skills."

"You mean speed, vision, sense of smell and keenness of thought?"

She nodded. "That kind of thing, yes."

"What are your plans for the future? You can hardly continue to work where you were, after all."

Hermione smiled, her hunger showing in the shape of her teeth. "well actually, our boss reckons that being upir is a major advantage to our department."

"You are Upir? You haff a heartbeat? No vonder your makeup is so flawless."

The older woman, Doreen Winkins had spoken. Her accent strangely reminiscent of the affected accents used in old gothic horror films, her formal dress more suited to a woman with a sylph-like figure, rather than the hearty woman she was. Her husband, Arthur was, however, a vampire of the old school. He was thin, pallid and had a distinct widow's peak. For some reason he was wearing a dress-suit and an opera cape.

"My wife has become something of an expert in Vampire lore. You must realise that most of us wear makeup to … disguise our status … as undead."

Hermione noticed that Arthur had a distinctly East-End London accent. He carried himself with aplomb, but still showed some of the deference he had presumably learned in the fresh fruit and veg. trade.

.

"Now, there is something that both of us want to know. This happened with Master Sanguini too. Why were all of you nervous about us? And why the _Lord_ and _Lady_?"

Elizabeth answered.

"You have to understand something of the hierarchy of vampire society. When someone is turned, their sire is like their parent, having a level of control over them. Thus the hierarchy goes back to the oldest-turned vampires.

"Vampires congregate in three social groups. The, um, blood lineage creates the highest level, the _Clan_. The clan is the most important aspect of our social order. Within these clans are the _Families_. A family is just like the human counterpart with sires and their mates and the offspring and their mates.

"Finally. there are the Covens. This is a group of vampires, generally unrelated by blood, but who have formed a social alliance for mutual benefit, convenience or simply for company. We, here, are strictly a coven, though we make no demands of fealty, nor indeed any other demands. We are more like a village community. We call ourselves Regent's Park Village."

There was a ripple of quiet laughter around the room, knowing that the park in question was less than five minutes walk from the restaurant.

"Some covens are more … rigid, being formed for some purpose other than community."

"Each vampire, in addition to having a place in the bite-order, will be more or less dominant. The most dominant, the most powerful are the alphas. Usually, the alphas are the most powerful members of our society, commanding great respect. Below the alphas are the betas. Usually an alpha will have a beta as his or her mate. Below this are the … less dominant vampires, often the younger ones.

"Occasionally a vampire will appear, more dominant even than the usual alphas. These are the Vampire Lords, and Ladies, of course. It is clear to any vampire where you stand in the bite order. You Mr and Mrs Potter are very clearly a Lord and Lady.

"You are an exception to the rule, in that you are both at the top of the hierarchy, and yet you have bonded mutually. Most vampires will either dominate or be dominated."

Harry smiled. "Hermione and I were married and soul-bonded long before we … joined the society. We were partners who complemented each other before, and so it is natural that we continue to do so. Our marriage vows stated _in this world and the next, in life and death, for all eternity_. And a magical oath-taking is enforced absolutely.

"When Hermione lay dead, I was ready to follow her into the next great adventure. Taking on Savarin was calculated to be either revenge or suicide. I assumed suicide."

.

"Lord Potter, how is it that you manage _The Hunger_?"

Harry grinned. "Fresh pig. Warm and preserved with a stasis charm on it. It is a little … mild, but we share our life force between the two of us."

The girl blinked. "You are able to sustain … but there again, you also eat … food, don't you?"

Hermione nodded. "We are both living beings while also being vampire. Our … needs are not entirely as yours, I gather. Our marriage bond requires us to share our blood with each other, but the pig blood fulfils that particular thirst. We have, of course, already breakfasted tonight.

"Once we have finished here, Harry and I are planning on a nice blue steak. My belief is that we still need … human food to sustain our magical selves."

The girl looked at them.

"And you sleep?"

Harry chuckled. "We sleep the sleep of the living, though more soundly than before. We are aware of the dawn and the falling of night. Hermione only slept the rest of the dead on her first night, presumably because she was still … recovering."

After their meeting and a mutual exchange of telephone numbers, Harry and Hermione enjoyed their candle lit meal and wandered home, this time without incident.

.

"Harry, I don't feel right. I feel like I did that first night. Harry, I'm afraid …"

Harry felt the same, a deep … fear of the next day.

"It's alright, Love. We'll close the doors and seal them, and we'll warn Dobby that we need to … rest. He'll watch over us."

The dawn was approaching by the time they had showered and dressed to sleep. Harry sealed the apartment door using mundane and magical means, and similarly the crypt door.

"Dobby?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Dobby, we're not sure what's happening, but we both feel the need to … rest. We'll be using the coffins today. Could you make sure that Remus knows, and could you keep an eye on us?"

"Of course, Harry. I understand this must be … difficult for you both, especially as there is so little, um, information available."

"Thanks Dobby, you're the best. Good night."

The pair lay in their caskets and closed the lids. They heard a sound like a forest fire and they knew nothing more.


	6. Chapter 6: Raising the Dead

**Children of the Night Part 2: The Book of Nocta Lunaria**

_**Chapter 6: Raising the Dead**_

by Polydicta

**Summary:**

Harry seeks revenge after Hermione is killed, but finds that they have both undergone a life-changing event. Violence, blood, character death, normal marital relations, necromantic themes. ON HIATUS.

This story is on PERMANENT HIATUS - that is, until I feel inspired to add anything more to it. I know where I want it to go but lack the inspiration or the drive to get there. I'm hoping that the guilt of leaving everyone hanging will motivate me … or something.

**Disclaimer: **

All fiction is derivative and fan fiction doubly so. I make no claim to own any part of any of the following, all I have done is an attempt to put together the elements in a novel fashion, using words and ideas like Lego ™ bricks.

There is no money involved – all I do is to share what I do for my own amusement.

-::::::::-

**Children of the Night Part 2: The Book of Nocta Lunaria**

_**Chapter 6: Raising the Dead**_

There was a sound like a groan which was answered by another.

"Harry?"

"Ugh! Hermione? Are you alright, Love?"

"Yah. This feels …"

"Dreadful?"

"Precisely."

There was the creak of Harry lifting the lid of his coffin. He felt the life returning to him, his heart gradually reaching a normal rhythm and his breathing resuming it's normal pace.

He sat up and levered himself from his casket. Stiffly he rose and went to release his wife from her own personal prison.

"You okay, Love?"

He kissed her.

"Better now thanks."

He helped her to sit and then to clamber out of the box.

Harry handed her a pint mug of blood, removing the stasis charm as he did, and kept one for himself. The hunger was almost unbearable. She un-sealed the crypt door and they emerged into their apartment.

"Dobby? Are you there?"

"Master!"

Harry looked at his friend sharply.

"Um, sorry, Harry, Hermione. It's just that, well …"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. The elf looked embarrassed.

"It's just that you … slept through last night as well. I was afraid."

"I'm sorry, Dobby. I'm not sure what that was all about."

Hermione's face fell. "We missed the full moon then."

Harry asked, "is Remus alright?"

Dobby nodded. "He was a bit upset, but if you were … dormant, then what else could you do?"

"We'll come on up as soon as we're safe to be in company, Dobby."

The elf looked worried.

"It's alright, it's just that … well, I know that I'm hungry as anything, and I'm sure Hermione is."

.

Their breakfast was larger than usual, but still they were unsatisfied.

"Harry …" Her voice was husky with … desire.

He stood and easily lifted her to her feet. Bending, he kissed her lips. He broke the kiss and offered his neck to her.

Giggling, she turned and led him to sit on the sofa. She sat on his lap and started kissing him lustfully.

Soon, she was kissing his jaw and then his neck, biting him and drinking, absorbing his fire, his spirit. Sated, she gently offered him her own neck, shuddering blissfully as he took her blood.

Now satisfied, they simply sat and cuddled for a minute before heading upstairs.

.

"Remus?"

Lupin's eyes were dull.

"Remus, old friend?"

He looked at them with deep sadness.

"Dobby told you?"

He shook his head. "Told me what?"

"Remus? Harry and I … last night … we …"

She started crying bitter tears, hot tears full of pain and loss. Mourning all that was now denied them. Harry lifted her onto his lap and comforted her, shedding his own tears.

Sirius entered the kitchen. "Harry?"

He looked at his godfather with eyes that spoke of the loss of all things bright and good in the world.

"Harry? What is it?"

He shook his head, still cradling his wife's sobbing form.

"Last night. Oh, Goddess …"

His voice caught.

"… Last night, we … we didn't wake. T-there was … nothing …"

Silence reigned, broken by Hermione's sobs and Harry's occasional quiet murmured words.

At last, she was still. Harry tried again.

"When we went down, the morning before last, we were both consumed by a terrible fear. Hermione said it was like … before. That's why I sealed the doors. We slept in our …"

His voice caught on the word.

"… we slept in our coffins. T-there was a noise like a forest fire and … nothing. No dreams, nothing until tonight. Waking from _that_ sleep is the most dreadful thing…"

Tears slid down his cheeks. "Oh, Merlin! To feel your heart start beating after lying dead, to … suddenly find yourself breathing, exhaling a breath held for two days. To feel the life seeping back to your cells … the fear … t-the … h-horror …"

He fell silent, the only sound the whispered muttering of Hermione as she tried to comfort her husband as silent tears flowed into her hair.

Remus looked up. "Harry, Hermione, I'm sorry. All I could feel was the … melancholy … emanating from your … apartment. I … I spent the w-whole night h-howling."

At length, the four of them were able to chat normally, sitting , nursing mugs of tea, coffee and hot chocolate.

"Anyone fancy going out for something to eat? I could murder a steak."

Remus looked at his watch. "Nym'll be back in a while, why don't we all go out. Where to?"

"Harry and I have been using that restaurant around the corner. The Regent's Park Steakhouse?"

"You're on."

.

Half an hour later the five of them were sat in the restaurant waiting for their meal to arrive.

"Alyssa?"

"Oh, good evening Lord and Lady Potter."

"Alyssa, what did we say to you about that?"

The young woman looked abashed. "Sorry. Harry and Hermione."

She gave them an embarrassed smile.

"We'd like to introduce you to our … family, for want of a better word. My Dogfather Sirius. Uncle Remus and his intended Nym …"

Harry's voice trailed off as Alyssa had locked eyes with Sirius.

"Ah, um, yes, well, hi …"

"Did you actually hear any of the introductions, Alyssa?"

"Yes, yes, all of them, I got as far as Sirius …"

"And Remus and Nym?"

"Oh, yes, Hi."

"Alyssa, do you want to join us? My treat?"

She looked embarrassed.

"Ah, you don't … partake, do you?"

She shook her head. "Not often and not much."

"Then sit, help us with the wine and perhaps pinch a forkful from Sirius' plate?"

"Oh … I'd …. "

She drifted off again, suddenly catching herself. "Yeah, I'd love to."

The food arrived, with Harry and Hermione having blue steaks with a side salad, Remus and Sirius eating theirs rare and Tonks having a Shepherd's Pie, wondering vaguely if it was made with real shepherd. At no point did Alyssa seem to be able to take her eyes from Sirius for more than a second or two.

At length, Hermione headed off to the ladies, taking Alyssa and Tonks with her.

.

"Sirius?"

"Hmm, Moony?"

"She's the one, isn't she?"

"I dunno what you mean, old friend."

"Yes you do. You've fallen for a vampire."

"Who says?"

"The look in your eye says, and I'd put a hundred galleons on it, too."

"Moony?"

"Harry?"

"How do you feel around her?"

Remus lifted an eyebrow. "Umm, not bad, actually. She's a nice girl."

"She's true vampire, you know."

Remus looked confused.

"We'll sort it out."

.

While this conversation was going on, Hermione had cornered Alyssa.

"He's the one, isn't he?"

The goofy smile and the glazed expression was actually answer enough.

"Are you working tonight?"

She shook her head. "I was just going clubbing."

"Why don't you take some company. Heck, why don't we all go? I'm sure we can convince Moony, and Sirius'll follow your lead, Alyssa."

She nodded and the women headed back to the table.

"Right, we're going clubbing, the lot of us."

Sirius looked confused, thinking of knobbly sticks.

"Night clubbing? Go get on down on the dance floor?"

Six figures arrived at Grimmauld Place. The night sky was beginning to lose its blackness.

"I need to get back…"

"We have a spare room down in our apartment, if you want?"

"Really? With proper beds?"

Harry chuckled as Hermione said, "a couple of good coffins, actually."

Alyssa smiled. "I'll leave dad a message on the answerphone then."

.

The party continued at Grimmauld Place until the sky was becoming pale. Alyssa got herself comfortable in the Potters' spare bedroom and Harry and Hermione headed off to bed themselves.

"Night Hermione. Love you."

"Love you too, Mr Potter."

Snuggled together, without the sudden fear they had felt the last time they had come down to rest, they slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep.

The next night, when the Potters woke, there was a singular lack of movement from Alyssa's coffin.

"Do you think she's alright?"

Harry was worried. They went in and opened the coffin to find the desiccated remains of someone long, long dead.

"No! No! Nononono!"

Harry found himself weeping for their friend. His tears fell on the long dead flesh, and there was a sizzling noise. Where his tears had fallen was what could only be living flesh.

"Harry, what did you do to waken me?"

Harry looked at his wife.

"I cried. I kissed your lips and … of course, the breath of life!"

He bent over the coffin and kissed the mummified lips, feeling them soften and become living flesh. He exhaled past the parted lips and there was a sound like a very quiet shifting of sand.

He stood and looked down. The woman was becoming flushed. She took a shuddering breath and her eyes flew open.

"What!"

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

The young couple helped the girl from her coffin.

She was pale, but the pale of living flesh, not the greyish, unnatural-seeming pallor of the undead.

In the kitchen Harry gave her a pint mug.

"Drink."

She did, and then they sat together, she drinking a second cup, Harry and Hermione drinking their first.

"What happened? I can feel my heart beating and the life flowing in my veins, a thing I've missed these past fifteen years."

"You had truly died when we came to wake you this evening. Harry brought you back."

"b-but … vampires don't simply … die."

"I assure you they do. You have a sprinkle of earth in your coffin, don't you?"

The girl nodded.

"We forgot that little detail, but for what it's worth, you probably won't need it again."

"Wha … how?"

"We're _upir_, living dead, not undead. Well, we say _upir_, but that's just an approximation. Harry brought me back, and now he's brought you back. How do you feel?"

"Still … hungry?"

Harry took his wand and pointed it at his hand.

"_Exsanguinarius_."

He allowed his blood to half-fill her empty mug, and casting a _finite_, he bid her drink.

Her eyes grew wide. "Wow! That's like nothing I've ever tried! Thank you, Lord."

Her colour returned to that of a young woman in the prime of her life.

"Right, shower's in there, if you leave your clothes out we'll clean them using magic."

When Alyssa emerged, she found Harry and Hermione chatting to Sirius and a couple of small creatures.

"Alyssa? These are Dobby and Winky. They're house elves and are powerfully magical creatures, as well as being adopted members of our family."

The girl was evidently suffering culture shock.

"Oh, and I should explain. Sirius is a wizard and a dog-animagus. Remus, if you hadn't guessed, is a werewolf and Nym is a metamorphmagus, a shape-shifter. This is a bit of an unconventional family, you see."

The girl shook her head.

Sirius looked at Alyssa. "Something's changed with you. I can see it."

She smiled. "I died last night. Really died, and Harry brought me back. I'm warm, I have a pulse and I'm alive again."

Hermione smiled. "And what of your original sire?"

The girl's eyes widened. "I can't feel him in my mind any more. He's gone from me. His word is no longer my command. I can, however, feel Harry's presence … but it's like … it's more like … a … deep … abiding love. It's more like the feeling I have with my own father.

"Hecate and Hera, is this how you both feel all the time? Deeply loved and … protected?"

Hermione nodded. "It's how I feel, at least most of the time. Oh, and after tomorrow, you may not need to sleep in a coffin, at least not always, anyway."

"Really? I can sleep in a bed?"

Hermione nodded. "And you can even be woken up if the motive is there."

Alyssa blushed prettily, causing Sirius to stare. She looked at him and he blushed.

"Look stop beating around the bush. Alyssa, Sirius, just kiss and go find out. Oh, and Alyssa, you're welcome to sleep down here tomorrow if you want."

Giggling and laughing like school children Alyssa and Sirius headed off upstairs.

There was a mood permeated Grimmauld Place that made Harry and Hermione want to just sit, snuggled together in front of their fire for a couple of hours.

.

At one in the morning, a flushed and rumpled Alyssa arrived in the apartment.

"Sirius wants to know if you fancy coming out for a meal at the restaurant."

She blushed. "I never knew all that physical activity could make me feel so hungry for … food."

Harry grinned. "Did Sirius show you how he got his nickname?"

She giggled. "That was weird, seeing him turn into a dog. Is it a common skill?"

Hermione smiled ferally. "Not common at all. It tends to run in families, but both Harry and I have animal forms."

She looked at her husband. They nodded and changed.

In front of Alyssa were two smilodons, sabre-toothed tigers. Both sporting the short manes of their species, and both deep brown with black markings. The two retained their own startling eye colours. Harry, slightly larger, also sported a silvery lightning bolt marking over his left eye. They both had other pale marks on arms and torso from their many battle scars.

They shifted back.

"Impressive, but what are they?"

"Sabre-tooth tigers. It's certainly an unusual form to have. Most animagi have forms like dogs, cats, birds and so on. My dad had a stag form."

"Wow, again."

"Now, food calls."

.

The restaurant was busier than usual when they arrived. They sat down to three large, blue steaks and Sirius ate his rare as usual. Afterward, Alyssa went to talk to her father.

.

"Alyssa tells me that you have changed her, somehow. Certainly, I seem to have my daughter back. For the past fifteen years she has been aloof … distant and emotionless like the rest of her kind, but now …"

He paused, taking a deep breath.

"She tells me that she feels loved, a family love. She also tells me that she has met _the one_."

He shook his head.

"We think she has … Sirius, here, is unlikely to admit it, though."

Sirius shook his head, dog like. "Admit what?"

"That Alyssa is _the one_. That she is the one to have captured your heart."

"Is it that obvious?"

Three heads nodded vigorously.

.

Alyssa, finding she still had the fear of daylight, slept in her coffin at Grimmauld Place that night. Just as Hermione had, she became dormant but woke the following night still with a heartbeat.

After their shared breakfast, Alyssa asked them about magic. Especially how it felt.

"Why do you ask?"

"I feel something I never felt before … a stirring of some sort."

Harry handed her his wand and they were surprised to see a small shower of ozone-smelling sparks.

"Interesting … it seems as though you have inherited some of Harry's magic. I guess we'll have to arrange an appointment with Mr Ollivander."

A blank look.

"Ollivander is a wand maker. He makes the best wands for general use in Britain. I'll send him an owl in the morning."

"Harry? What is that stuff in the bottle that you drank last night? I see you've taken another bottle."

"It's a blood-replenishing potion. Because I gave you my blood last night, and Hermione tonight, I need a top-up. It's like a muggle blood transfusion, but with your own blood."

"Oh … I think I see."

Sirius arrived soon after. After being told that Alyssa needed to visit Ollivander's, she was whisked away by Sirius.

.

Harry moved a double bed down from one of the spare rooms upstairs so that Alyssa could use a bed while she stayed.

As morning was approaching, Sirius and Alyssa arrived in the apartment. Harry noticed the bite mark on Sirius's neck.

"So it's forever?"

They nodded mutely, both blushing.

"I-I g-got a b-bit …"

Hermione finished her sentence, "excited?"

Alyssa nodded. "It's never been like that before … I've never wanted to … mark my mate before."

She sighed, making Harry and Hermione smile.

"And are you going to turn him?"

She shook her head. "I don't think it's necessary. From what I learned, once marked a vampire's mate enjoys the same … immortality as the vampire who marked them."

"Well, in Sirius' case, immorality, more like."

When dawn came, she slept fearlessly in Sirius's arms in the Potters' spare bedroom.


End file.
